Available for new Vue/Node projects

What it Means to be an Engineer at Buink

Author:
Ben B |
12/14/18

There has probably never been a better time to be a software engineer. It seems like every day another big tech company is offering a new absurd perk that comes with employment. I’m not kidding, I saw an article on a company in China where developers get massages while sitting at their desk.

It all sounds great, till you realize they give you those perks because your job is a mind numbing path down a dark hole of irrelevance.

While some smaller companies have trouble competing with the giants, Buink doing well for the following reasons.

As a developer at Buink, you will…

Be a Change Maker

Code is powerful. The better we can write and maintain it, the more power we have. The more power we have, the more good we can do. Yes, power goes two ways and with it you can definitely make the world a better place.

We love projects like one we did for Summit Access. They invented a new type of surgical needle that helps prevent nurses from getting poked with contaminated fluids. We helped them build a site to share their product with hospitals and surgeons and our code helps save lives in a very real way.

Our code helps save lives in a very real way

Another project of note is a web app for Best-Line. They’re a “Made in USA” window shade manufacturer and our app is helping them build and track orders from start to delivery. Our code increases their productivity, reducing the cost of their product, keeping manufacturing jobs in America, and keeping food on the table of many families.

Lastly, FESTV is an ambitious startup in the streaming video space. We built and maintain a consumer facing, streaming video site that is interesting for a couple reasons: not only is it rewarding to help an entrepreneur realize his dream, but it is also rewarding to help many small independent filmmakers distribute their films directly to consumers allowing them to spread their messages without the Hollywood industrial complex deciding winners and losers.

Be Best in Craft

We’re passionate about delivering the best, most intelligent, most readable, most efficient code in the industry and we look for developers who have that same hunger.

It isn’t important that you’re already the best in craft, what is important is that you want to be and you’re willing to work for it. We find that this type of person comes ready to both share what they know, and learn what they don’t. This mentality is crucial to our success. The minute a developer thinks they know it all, they stop learning. The minute they stop learning, they stop moving towards the goal of being best in craft.

One huge way we support this goal is code review. Unlike other companies where code review is an exercise of patience and often the blind leading the blind, Buink’s code review is always done by lead developers who have proven themselves and their code, and also mastered Buink’s methodologies.

Some of the best athletes get there by having incredibly high performing competitors. Although we don’t encourage rivalries within our team, we do look to other team members as a standard to meet. In addition, we often compete on teams that have both in-house and/or overseas developers. This forces us to innovate and improve so we keep our seat at the table.

Be Challenged

In addition to challenging ourselves to be best in class, we are also challenged by Buink’s growth culture.

One guiding principle in our culture is that we want to give our developers experience in all aspects of web development. All new developers start by writing code (even the most experienced) in an effort to help them learn our methodologies. Then our goal is to push them through the full-stack and beyond as quickly as possible. As soon as they’re trained in the “Buink Way” of doing things, we can have them lead a team, manage code review, and be the point person for code quality on a project. The next step is to get them working with the client, architecting solutions and managing production environments.

Regardless of where you find yourself on a project, we push to always give you opportunities to put your pen to the paper (so to speak) and write code with at least part of your time. This keeps your mind fresh, keeps you challenging yourself, and keeps you learning.

Be Valued

Buink’s clients value solid, intelligent, well written code, this is why they hire us. We look for that type of client as well. They’re focused on long-term success and they value a thoughtful code base over a plate of mashed potato code. This gives you an unusual amount of freedom to not only improve their code base, but also your own skills.

Be Balanced

Although we know you are passionate about your craft, we also know that career is only part of a balanced life. We work hard when we’re billing hours, but we’ve designed our company to allow you flexibility for time with your family, time for your spirituality, and personal time.

One great example of our commitment to being balanced is the fact that remote work is the norm, not the exception. From our communication and collaboration software to our processes and operations, everything is designed to allow you to work from anywhere: the beach, the local cafe, a co-working space near your home, or your home.

Another example is the fact that we don’t really care when you work, but just that you complete tasks assigned to you in a timely manner and that you let us know what to expect in terms of your availability.

Be Marketable

One of the beauties of working for a “dev shop” is that you’ll always be working on something new and different. Just when a project starts to get stale, you’ll be added to another one. It’s almost impossible to get pigeonholed into working on outdated stuff.

We put a lot of effort into choosing our recommended technologies and our clients almost always accept our recommendations. New projects are started using the latest technologies that have been proven to add value.

At Buink, you will not feel stagnate in your career working on last decade’s language or software.

Be Transparent

Honesty and integrity are deeply held values of our founder and an important guiding principle of the company. We find that transparency reinforces our value of doing what we say, delivering the quality our clients expect, and always seeking to represent things as they really are.

About The Author

About Buink

Buink Web Development is a development shop founded in 2009 by Ben Buie. For years, Ben built and modified web assets for clients in Utah. In 2011, he moved the company to Colorado and in 2015 he started taking on new clients full-time.